Departmental Offices

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the  (a) area and  (b) estimated value is of (i) vacant and (ii) occupied office space (A) owned and (B) rented by his Department.

Si�n Simon: The Department rents 13,121 sq m of office space.
	9,425 sq m is occupied by the Department
	3,537 sq m is sublet to tenants
	159 sq m is vacant
	As the space is not owned by the Department valuations are not carried out.

Freight by Water

Bob Laxton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much funding his Department has provided to Freight by Water in each year since 1993; and how much it plans to provide in 2010-11.

Paul Clark: Since it was established in 2003, the following sums have been provided to Freight by Water (and its predecessor Sea and Water) as start up funding and in order to establish the organisation as the UK's Short Sea Shipping Promotion Centre.
	
		
			  Financial year  Support 
			 2003-04 120,000 
			 2004-05 120,000 
			 2005-06 120,000 
			 2006-07 120,000 
			 2007-08 120,000 
			 2008-09 120,000 
			 2009-10 80,000 
		
	
	The Department for Transport has undertaken to provide a further £50,000 in 2010-11. In line with the position for other established freight trade bodies, no funding is planned beyond 2010-11.

Inland Waterways: Freight

Bob Laxton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps his Department is taking to encourage use of inland and coastal waterways for the transportation of goods and materials.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport supports the transfer of freight from road to water where it is practical and economically and environmentally sustainable to do so. It does this through three specific grants that aim to purchase the environmental benefits of reducing road freight.
	Freight Facilities Grants help to offset the capital cost of providing water and rail freight handling facilities. In return, the grant applicant commits to transferring a specified volume of freight from road to water or rail, through the newly constructed freight handling facility, for a period of up to 10 years.
	The Rail Environmental Benefit Procurement scheme, which assists companies with the operating costs associated with running rail freight transport instead of road where rail is more expensive than road, now also covers inland waterways transport, and from 1 April 2010 will be replaced by Mode Shift Revenue Support (MSRS) Scheme.
	Waterborne Freight Grants assist companies with the operating costs, for up to three years, associated with running coastal and short-sea shipping freight services instead of road (where water is more expensive than road).
	In addition, the Department has provided £800,000 in start-up funding to Freight by Water and its predecessor Sea and Water since 2003-04, and has undertaken to provide a further £50,000 in 2010-11. It is also promoting the opportunities and benefits for modal shift through the Freight Best Practice programme.

Offenders

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many employees of his Department and its agencies have been convicted of a criminal offence of each type in each year since 1997.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport was formed on 29 May 2002 comprising a central Department and seven agencies.
	Driving Standards Agency, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, Highway Agency, Vehicle Certification Agency and the Government Car and Despatch Agency maintain records of staff convictions. To date, since 2002, 17 employees of these agencies have been convicted of criminal offences. Of these there are 11 recorded convictions for fraud. All of these employees have undergone the appropriate disciplinary procedures, including termination of employment where appropriate.
	A further breakdown based on the type of conviction is unavailable because, where figures are fewer than five, it is the Department's policy to withhold details on grounds of individual confidentiality.
	The Department for Transport (centre) and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency do not keep central records of employees' convictions or the offences to which they relate. Details of criminal convictions may appear on an individual's personnel files but such information could be retrieved and provided only at disproportionate cost.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle were slaughtered as a consequence of bovine tuberculosis precautions in  (a) Cumbria and  (b) England in each of the last 24 months.

Jim Fitzpatrick: As data from Vetnet (the Animal Health Database) is produced three months in arrears, figures cannot be provided for the last three months. The following table shows the total of animals slaughtered(1) due to a TB incident in  (a) Cumbria and  (b) England in the last 24 months for which figures are available(2) (up to September 2009):
	(1 )Animals slaughtered include monthly numbers of cattle removed for TB control reasons (i.e. test reactors and direct contacts) from herds affected by a TB incident in each jurisdiction.
	(2 )Data from Vetnet are provisional and subject to change as more data become available.
	
		
			   England  Cumbria 
			  2009   
			 September 1,935 5 
			 August 1,478 5 
			 July 1,728 5 
			 June 1,996 5 
			 May 1,618 7 
			 April 2,490 5 
			 March 2,717 8 
			 February 2,592 5 
			 January 3,090 6 
			
			  2008   
			 December 2,502 101 
			 November 2,753 9 
			 October 1,977 25 
			 September 2,224 5 
			 August 1,587 5 
			 July 2,189 5 
			 June 2,070 5 
			 May 1,799 5 
			 April 3,373 89 
			 March 2,185 5 
			 February 2,185 5 
			 January 2,526 5 
			
			  2007   
			 December 2,202 5 
			 November 2,151 5 
			 October 1,924 5 
			  Note: To protect the anonymity of individual farmers, months with a slaughter count of less than 5 animals are given 5.  Source:  Vetnet-Animal Health Database.

Christmas

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have spent on Christmas (i) cards, (ii) parties and (iii) decorations in the last 12 months.

Dan Norris: The core-Department has produced four e-greetings cards which are environmentally friendly and cheaper than traditional paper cards. Production costs of the e-cards totalled some £156.
	DEFRA's policy is that official funds should not be used for departmental Christmas parties and decorations.
	All public expenditure has to be incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury hand book on Regularity and Propriety.

Departmental Pay

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding his Department has allocated for  (a) year end and  (b) in-year bonuses in 2009-10.

Dan Norris: An element of DEFRA's overall pay award is allocated to non-consolidated variable pay related to performance. These payments are used to drive high performance and form part of the pay award for members of staff who demonstrate exceptional performance, for example by exceeding targets set or meeting challenging objectives.
	Non-consolidated variable pay awards are funded from within existing pay bill controls, and have to be re-earned each year against pre-determined targets and, as such, do not add to future pay bill costs. The percentage of the pay bill set aside for performance-related awards for the SCS is based on recommendations from the independent senior salaries review body.
	The following sections set out the estimated spend on non-consolidated performance payments for the 2009-10 financial year.
	 CORE-DEFRA - Including staff in Animal Health, Veterinary Medicines Directorate and the Marine and Fisheries Agency
	The wages/salary budget for 2009-10 is £200.25 million, of which non-consolidated performance payments represents an estimated 1.5 per cent.
	 Rural Payments Agency
	The wages/salary budget for 2009-10 is £99.3 million, of which non-consolidated performance payments represents an estimated 0.5 per cent.
	 Centre for the Environment and Aquaculture Science
	The wages/salary budget for 2009-10 is £20.46 million of which non-consolidated performance payments represent an estimated 3.9 per cent.
	 Food and Environment Research Agency
	The wages/salary budget for 2009-10 is £31.42 million, of which non-consolidated performance payments represent an estimated 1.25 per cent.
	 Veterinary Laboratories Agency
	The wages/salary budget for 2009-10 is £41,143,891.11, of which non-consolidated performance payments represents an estimated 0.472 per cent.
	CEFAS has relatively higher non consolidated pay when compared as a percentage against the DEFRA Network, because they have specifically worked to structure a total rewards package with a greater non consolidated pay element, that is directly performance based and must be re-earned each year. This places a greater link between performance and reward and while their percentage of non consolidated pay is larger than others this is more than offset by their consolidated pay (i.e. salaries) which is low relative to the DEFRA Network and Whitehall.

Poultry: Animal Welfare

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it remains his policy to introduce a ban on beak trimming of laying hens in 2011.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government have accepted further advice from The Farm Animal Welfare Council, an independent advisory body, that a complete ban on beak trimming of laying hens should not be introduced from 1 January 2011 (as is currently in legislation), but should be deferred until it can be demonstrated reliably under commercial conditions that laying hens can be managed without beak trimming, without a greater risk to their welfare than that caused by beak trimming itself. The Government want to reduce the number of procedures that are defined in legislation as 'mutilations' and protect the welfare of laying hens, but a balance has to be struck between reducing the number of procedures carried out and ensuring that the birds do not suffer worse welfare insults, such as feather pecking and cannibalism.
	The Government will shortly issue a consultation on proposed amendments to the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007 (as amended) to remove the total ban on beak trimming, to allow for routine beak trimming of day old chicks intended for laying to be done using the infra-red technique only.

Recycling: Calderdale

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much household waste Calderdale Council has recycled in the last five years; and whether the amount recycled in each of those years met his Department's targets.

Dan Norris: The following table shows tonnages and percentages of household waste sent for recycling, composting and reuse by Calderdale council for the financial years of 2004-05 to 2008-09.
	Data for years 2004-05 to 2007-08 are Best Value Performance Indicators 82a (dry recycling) and 82b (composting), while data for 2008-09 is National Indicator 192, which includes dry recycling, composting and reuse.
	Tonnage for 2004-05 could not be provided. WasteDataFlow was introduced that year and data provided by local authorities was unreliable and was not published. The recycling rate for that year is taken from the Audit Commission's website.
	
		
			   Recycling/composting/reuse (tonnes)  Recycling rate (percentage)  Target (percentage) 
			 2004-05 - 17.05 (1)- 
			 2005-06 17,717 20.35 18 
			 2006-07 18,952 21.30 (1)- 
			 2007-08 22,011 24.92 20 
			 2008-09 21,279 25.84 (1)- 
			 (1 )No target set  Source: WasteDataFlow and the Audit Commission

Wood: Government Departments

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has made an estimate of the proportion of wood-based products procured by the Government and its agencies in the last 12 months which come from  (a) Forest Stewardship Council-certified sources,  (b) Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification scheme-certified sources,  (c) other timber certification schemes and (d) non-certified sources; and what mechanisms are in place to monitor compliance with his Department's Buy Sustainable - Quick Wins minimum environmental product standards.

Dan Norris: From 1 April 2009 all timber and timber derived products purchased by the UK Government departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies must comply with the UK Government's timber procurement policy. Only legal and sustainable or FLEGT licensed timber and wood products should be purchased. No distinction is made between forest certification schemes, and also no distinction between certification and other forms of evidence.
	Guidance is available on how to ensure purchased timber meets the UK Government legality and sustainability criteria. Please see the document UK Government timber procurement policy: Definition of 'legal' and 'sustainable' for timber procurement (TPAN April 2009) on the CPET website at:
	http://www.proforest.net/cpet/files/TPAN
	A recent report, 'UK Timber Industry Certification' by Timbertrends, concluded that in 2008 the proportion of certified products available to the UK timber supply chain by forest certification scheme was distributed: FSC 51.5 per cent. PEFC 31.5 per cent. other schemes 0.5 per cent. and 33.2 per cent. not certified. We assume that the proportion of certified timber and wood products purchased (with category A evidence) by the public sector reflects availability and with two thirds being FSC and one third being PEFC.
	This proportion also corresponds with CPETs experience. It should however be noted that the report quoted assessed the timber industry and for other product groups such as paper and furniture the proportions might not be the same.
	Furthermore, a recent study conducted by DEFRA and CPET 'timber reporting pilot study' published July 2009 (available on the CPET website
	http://www.proforest.net/cpet/files/CPET%20Reporting%20pilot%20study%20July%2009.pdf/view
	showed that implementation of reporting requirements across mandated bodies is not currently possible, but that assurance of implementation and compliance with the policy is a first step towards achieving meaningful data.
	DEFRA in conjunction with CPET has also started an awareness raising campaign and support program across Central Government as well as encouraging local authorities and the remainder of the public sector to voluntarily adopt the UK Government timber procurement policy.
	Support for delivery and compliance with Quick Wins, by central government departments, is overseen by the Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement (CESP) in the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).

Departmental Public Consultation

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many  (a) citizens' juries and  (b) summits have been hosted by his Department since June 2007; on what date each event took place; and which Ministers were present at each event;
	(2)  how many citizens' juries or summits have been hosted by his Department since October 2008; on what date each event took place; and which Ministers were present at each event.

Ann Keen: The Department recognises the important contribution that the public can make in developing policy and carry out a wide range of activities which allow ministers and officials to listen to and understand the views of the public and stakeholders in developing policy.
	Data from 2007 on the number of citizens' juries and consultation with random panels of people to aid decision-making by the Department is not readily available. Supplying the occurrences of citizens' juries and deliberative consultations would require a substantive investigation into all public engagement programmes undertaken by various divisions within the Department at a disproportionate cost.
	However, the Department does engage widely with the public using a number of methodologies which feed into the policy making process. These do on occasion include citizens' juries and summits and other events which can but do not always include ministerial attendance.
	Some examples of engagement events which involved Ministers were:
	NHS Next Stage Review-led by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Lord Darzi;
	(September 2007 events held in each strategic health authority and attended by various Ministers including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson and former departmental Ministers Lord Darzi, Ben Bradshaw, Dawn Primarolo and current minister Ann Keen);
	(January 2008 events again held in each SHA and attended by various Ministers including Lord Darzi and Ann Keen); and
	Primary and Community Care Review (April 2008 event attended partially by Ben Bradshaw).
	Some examples of extensive public engagement which did not involve Ministers include:
	Review into the Consequences of Additional Private Drugs for the NHS (2008): workshops with cancer patients, email consultation and the focus groups; and
	NHS Constitution (2008-09): A series of focus groups and a deliberative event with patients, the public and stakeholders.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Health Services

Patrick Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make an assessment of the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance's report Joint Working?: An audit of the implementation of the Department of Health's Musculoskeletal Services Framework.

Ann Keen: The Musculoskeletal Services Framework provides good practice guidance for the national health service on delivering care closer to home for people in the UK with bone and joint conditions. It was published as good practice guidance, and as such, the Department is not mandating its implementation but continues to support the good practice promoted in the guidance.
	The Department has no plans to make a specific assessment of the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance's report Joint Working? An audit of the implementation of the Department of Health's Musculoskeletal Services Framework.

Orthopaedics

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) below knee lower limb amputations and  (b) above knee limb amputations have taken place in each strategic health authority in the NHS in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: Tables providing the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) where there was a main or secondary procedure of below knee amputation; above knee amputations; other amputations; and amputation of foot or toe by strategic health authority (SHA) of treatment, have been placed in the Library.
	In 2006-07 there was a SHA configuration change, where 28 SHAs merged into 10. For this reason, data for 2006-07 to 2008-09 are based on the new configuration and the data prior to this are based on the old configuration.
	It should be noted that the number of FCEs does not represent the number of patients as a patient may have more than one episode within a year.
	Reference should be made to the footnotes and clinical codes when interpreting the data.

Airguns: Children

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of measures to control the sale of air rifles to children via the internet.

Alan Campbell: The Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 introduced a number of changes to the controls on air weapons which will help prevent the unlawful sale of air weapons to minors The minimum age for purchasing an air weapon was increased to 18 and the final transfer of all air weapons sold by way of trade or business must be conducted on a face-to-face basis. This provides an opportunity to seek proof of identity if there is any doubt about the purchaser's age. Theses changes were introduced with effect from 1 October 2007 and their impact will be closely monitored together with all other controls on air weapons.

Capita

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions Capita Group plc tendered for contracts let by his Department in each of the last five years; how many such tenders were successful; how much his Department paid to Capita Group plc for the execution of contracts in each such year; how many contracts which terminate after 2010 Capita Group plc hold with his Department; and what the monetary value is of all outstanding contracts between his Department and Capita Group plc.

Phil Woolas: The Home Department does not retain a central register of companies that tender for contracts. A search of individual records for instances where Capita Group plc or its subsidiaries have submitted tenders in each of the last five years could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost, however, six contracts were awarded in this period.
	The Department's, inclusive of its agencies, total spend on Capita Group plc and its subsidiaries contracts in each of the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			  Financial year  £ million 
			 2004-05 46.3 
			 2005-06 53.2 
			 2006-07 60.0 
			 2007-08 62.6 
			 2008-09 68.6 
		
	
	The majority of the spend derives from the Criminal Records Bureau's Disclosure processing contract with Capita Business Services Ltd. The contract was awarded in 2000 and runs for 10 years from service go-live which occurred in March 2002. This is the only contract held by the Department with Capita Group plc or its subsidiaries which expires after 2010. The outstanding monetary value of the Disclosures processing contract with Capita Business Services Ltd is £249 million.

Departmental Energy

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the  (a) energy rating and  (b) energy band of each building occupied by his Department and its agencies was in each year for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: Display Energy Certificates (DEC) were introduced in 2008. OGC publish central Government Departments' Display Energy Certificate (DEC) operational ratings on a building by building level twice a year. The most recent data for the Home Office, published on 31 July 2009, which includes DEC ratings up to and including 28 February 2009 can be seen via this link:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documents/Pan_Govt_DEC_Feb09.xls
	This information covers one Home Office Building, 16 UK Border properties and eight Identity and Passport Service buildings.
	Data to October 2008 can be seen via this link:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documents/Pan_Govt_DEC_Oct08.xls
	Data relating to the month ending 30 September 2009 will be published on 18 December 2009.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many bogus colleges have been closed in  (a) England,  (b) Bedfordshire and  (c) Luton in the last six months.

Phil Woolas: Within the last six months, 76 educational institutions have been found to be non bona fide as per the immigration rules, prior to the introduction of the points based system. These institutions do not have Tier 4 licences, but being identified as non bona fide would not necessarily result in their closure, although it would result in the refusal of any outstanding overseas student applications.
	Since the introduction of the points based system, the UK Border Agency maintains a register of educational establishments that meet the requirements of Tier 4. Establishments that do not meet these criteria will have their application for a sponsor licence refused.
	Educational establishments that have been registered as a sponsor but found to no longer meet the requirements of Tier 4 have their licence revoked. As at 21 December, the licences for 14 establishments had been revoked. All of these are in England.

Exclusion Orders: International Cooperation

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the UK's list of persons who are to be denied travel to and admission into the UK is automatically shared with the border agency authorities of  (a) the Netherlands,  (b) other European Union member states and  (c) other states and jurisdictions; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 11 January 2010
	The UK Border Agency holds a watchlist of adverse information drawn from a variety of sources, including visa refusals, the police, SOCA and other Government Departments. The system is used by UK Border Agency staff for the purposes of national security and the detection and prevention of crime. Refusal of entry may be based on information from any of these sources.
	The UK Border Agency does not automatically share information held on the UK watchlist with The Netherlands. The only European member state that the UK Border Agency regularly shares information with, including that held on immigration watchlists, is the Irish Government.
	This is undertaken on a routine basis in some instances and on a specific, case-by-case in others. We have a longstanding policy not to disclose exactly what information is shared.
	Data sharing with the Irish Government remains a key area for increased co-operation between the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and was recognised as such in the 'Strengthening The Common Travel Area' public consultation and subsequent response.
	Decisions as to whether it is appropriate and proportionate to share information held on the watchlist with authorities in other countries, are made by the owners of that information, on a case by case basis.
	As the UK Border Agency does not own all of the data held on the watchlist, we cannot comment on the data sharing policies of other data owners.

Immigration Controls

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Mid Sussex of 2 December 2009,  Official Report, column 752W, on immigration controls, which educational institutions have  (a) been granted sponsor licences since the inception of the points-based immigration system and  (b) had their licences revoked.

Phil Woolas: The list of colleges which are currently licensed under Tier 4 of the Points Based System is on the UKBA website at:
	http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/pointsbasedsystem/registerofsponsors education
	To date 14 colleges have had their licences revoked. Information on the names of which educational institutions have had their licences revoked cannot be disclosed on grounds of commercial sensitivity.

Islam4UK: Internet

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to prevent the promotion through Islam4UK websites of the teachings of individuals who have been required to leave the UK as a result of their extremist views.

David Hanson: holding answer 11 January 2010
	The Home Office has no powers to remove or modify extremist material on websites. Where websites are identified to contain unlawful material, the police have powers under section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2006 to seek the removal or modification of that material.
	As the hon. Member will be aware, on Monday my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary laid an order providing that the name lslam4UK, along with several others, be treated as alternative names for an organisation which is already proscribed under the names Al Ghurabaa and The Saved Sect.

Missing Persons

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of  (a) UK national and  (b) non-UK national missing persons of each age have been recorded by the Missing Persons Bureau in each year since 1997; and how many were subsequently found.

Alan Johnson: The information requested is given in the tables. 34,972 missing persons cases have been recorded by the Missing Persons Bureau between 1 January 1997 and 16 December 2009. Of these 17,641 are British, 14,365 are non-British. No nationality data is available for 2,966 cases. Note that these figures relate to incidents of missing rather than individuals; the same person can go missing several times.
	30,540 (87 per cent.) of these cases have subsequently been marked as 'closed' on the database (i.e. the missing person has returned or been located). Research suggests(1) that 99 per cent. of missing persons are located within one year of going missing. Not all cancellations are received by the Bureau. As force compliance with the code increases the percentage of closed cases on HERMES will increase.
	(1) Tarling, R. and Burrows, J. (2004)) The nature and outcome of going missing: the challenge of developing effective risk assessment procedures', International Journal of Police Science and Management, Vol.6, No. 1, 16-26
	Data relating to missing cases by nationality (UK, non-UK or unknown) and age are given in the tables placed in the House Library. 'Closed' refers to the status of cases where the individual was subsequently found. Data relating to 'age' are given at the date the person went missing. Ages have been grouped together and where there are small numbers of cases (under five) in individual cells exact figures have not been provided to protect identity and maintain confidentiality.
	The HERMES database used for the recording of missing persons data is an operational database used for policing purposes. The data are normally only used for management information and are not subject to the detailed checks that apply to national statistics publications. The data are therefore provisional and may be subject to change.
	A code of practice for the collection of missing persons data was introduced in April 2009. Although limited data has been collected as some police forces have implemented the code, it is unlikely that any meaningful and complete national picture of missing persons will be available until early summer 2010, when all police forces will become compliant with the code. Meanwhile the available figures can be regarded as indicative only.

Terrorism: Stop and Search

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been  (a) arrested and  (b) convicted since the enactment of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 for offences relating to the taking of photographs.

David Hanson: Section 76 of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 inserts a new clause (Section 58A) into the Terrorism Act 2000 which relates to the offence, inter alia, of taking photographs of members of the armed forces, police or security and intelligence services. The Home Office collates statistics on the number of terrorism arrests, charges and convictions. However, the data is recorded in a way which shows offences under S58 but does not show convictions under subsections of S58. These statistics were included in a Bulletin published for the first time on 13 May 2009 (Statistics on Terrorism Arrests and Outcomes Great Britain 11 September 2001 to 31 March 2008). The first edition of the Bulletin is available at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb0409.pdf
	The second issue of the Bulletin was published on 26 November 2009 and is available via the following link:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb1809.pdf

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of days likely to be taken to  (a) deliver general election ballot papers to and  (b) return to the relevant returning officer ballot papers completed by members of the armed forces serving in Afghanistan to the relevant polling station.

Bill Rammell: No specific estimate has been made for the number of days likely to be taken to deliver and return general election ballot papers from members of the armed forces serving in Afghanistan to the relevant polling station.
	However, we take very seriously the need to ensure service personnel are able to vote. MOD is working closely with the Electoral Commission and the Ministry of Justice to help service personnel understand their options for registering to vote and to support their participation in the forthcoming elections. We advise service personnel serving abroad to vote by proxy.

Air Force

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement of 15 December 2009,  Official Report, columns 801-02, on future defence programmes, what assessment has been made of the effects on the Royal Air Force's elements at readiness strategy of the reduction in Tornado and Harrier squadrons.

Bill Rammell: An analysis of defence priorities was carried out which concluded it was possible to drawdown the overall size of our Fast Jet Forces earlier than expected. As a result of this analysis, it was decided to make a reduction in the size of the Harrier force by one squadron and therefore close RAD Cottesmore and consolidate the Harrier force at RAF Wittering.
	Reducing the size of the Harrier force earlier than planned will not affect current operations, as the Tornado GR4 (the aircraft that replaced Harrier on Op HERRICK earlier this year) is proving to be extremely effective in Afghanistan.
	As announced on 15 December, we plan to reduce our Tornado and Harrier force by a further one or two squadrons but decisions on the make-up of our future force will be taken in the defence review.
	The MOD does not comment on the state of readiness of its force elements as this would constitute a risk to operational security.

Armed Forces: Housing

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what percentage of his Department's housing stock is void or uninhabited;
	(2)  how many void  (a) single living and  (b) service family accommodation units his Department has in (i) the UK and (ii) overseas.

Kevan Jones: holding answer 11 January 2010
	The latest number of void Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties in the UK and overseas are:
	
		
			   Location 
			   UK (as at  4 January 2010)  Overseas (as at December 2009) 
			 Total number of SFA 49,828 15,392 
			 Number of void 7,889 2.461 
			 As a percentage 15.8 16 
		
	
	Properties are void for various reasons, such as they are awaiting routine moves of service personnel, improvement or modernisation work, demolition or disposal. While the Department is working hard to reduce the number of voids, there will always be a need for a management margin of properties to ensure they are available for service families.
	In 2008, the proportion of void SFA worldwide reached 21 per cent. Although extremely challenging, the MOD is driving hard to reduce the percentage of voids to the target management margin of 10 per cent. by 2012.
	Void Single Living Accommodation is defined as those bed-spaces which are available but not currently required for occupation by single service personnel. The most recent figures we have (December 2008) indicate that of the available 145,000 bed-spaces worldwide, some 18,000 (12 per cent.) were void. Of these some 13,000 (9 per cent.) were in the UK and 5,000 (3 per cent.) overseas.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Niitek Husky Mine Detection System.

Quentin Davies: While it is planned to assess the NIITEK Husky Mine Detection System as part of a wider assessment, I cannot go into the specific details as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the operational security of our armed forces.

Departmental Empty Property

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many properties owned by his Department had been unused for between one and five years in  (a) England,  (b) Scotland and  (c) the UK on the latest date for which figures are available.

Kevan Jones: Details of all properties of all types on the Ministry of Defence (MOD) estate that are unused and the length of time each has been so is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Further to my answer of 14 December 2009,  Official Report, column 828W, we have been able to assemble some details of void living accommodation. The following table details Service Family Accommodation (SFA) in the UK that has been unused for between one and five years. It has not been possible separately to identify SFA in England. The majority of these properties are owned by Annington Homes Ltd. (AHL) and are leased to the Department.
	
		
			  Number of SFA properties void between one and five years as at 12 January 2010 
			   Number 
			 England and Wales 1,784 
			 Scotland 173 
			 UK total (including NI) 2,077 
		
	
	SFA properties that have been void for the longest periods are those that are mainly held awaiting large future redeployments of personnel, pending return to AHL or awaiting demolition, or where decisions on the future of MOD sites have yet to be made. SFA may also be void where there is likely to be a long-term (rather than short-term) need for SFA in that area or where major modernisation or upgrade work is to be carried out.
	In those areas where void SFA is required in the long-term but not in the short to medium-term, the Department is actively seeking arrangements with local authorities, housing associations and private landlords to temporarily sub let properties.
	In 2008 the proportion of void SFA reached 21 per cent. Although extremely challenging, the MOD is driving heard to reduce the percentage of voids to the target management margin of 10 per cent. by 2012.

Low-carbon Technologies

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions have taken place between his Department and the Department for Energy and Climate Change on policy to support companies developing low-carbon technologies.

Patrick McFadden: In July last year, together with the Department for Energy and Climate Change we published the UK Low Carbon Industrial Strategy which provides a strategic view of Britain's low-carbon strengths and opportunities for UK-based companies. It included the first investments from £405 million allocated at Budget to low-carbon industries. In December's pre-Budget report, we committed a further £150 million for low-carbon investment. This money will go to sectors such as wind and wave power, low-carbon vehicles and green manufacturing.

Horizon

Jacqui Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations he has received form sub-postmasters on the effects on them of use by the Post Office of the Horizon computer system; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: I have, in recent months, received a small number of representations from hon. Members, and one direct from a sub-postmaster, about the Horizon computer system. Issues relating to the Horizon system are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. which investigates all concerns raised by sub-postmasters about Horizon and will continue to do so if any are raised.

Renewable Energy: Employment

Lynne Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people have been employed in the renewable energy sector in each year since 2003; and what recent assessment he has made of the potential for the creation of jobs consequent on the Government's steps to encourage the use of renewable energy.

David Kidney: I have been asked to reply.
	The renewable energy sectors are new and emerging sectors that are not explicitly identified within the traditional statistical classifications.
	Although there will be some displacement as we restructure our economy, the Renewable Energy Strategy will create significant job opportunities. Based on information in a report produced by Innovas for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in 2009-'Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services: an industry analysis'-we estimate that in 2007/08 up to 390,000 people were employed in the renewable energy sector, including bioenergy employment.
	Based on Innovas projections and Labour Force Survey data, we estimate that the Renewable Energy Strategy, combined with a growing market for renewable energy across Europe and globally, could increase UK employment in the renewable energy sector by up to a further 500,000 people by 2020.

Vocational Training

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been spent from the public purse on  (a) the Skills Pledge and  (b) the Our future. It's in our hands campaign to date.

Kevin Brennan: The Department does not hold this information. Geoff Russell, the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) acting chief executive, will write to the hon. Member with further information.
	 Letter from Geoff Russell, dated 23 December 2009:
	I am writing in reply to your recent Parliamentary Question that asked the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much has been spent from the public purse on (a) the Skills Pledge campaign and (b) the 'Our future. It's in our hands' campaign.
	Both the Skills Pledge and the 'Our Future. It's in our hands' campaigns commenced in 2007.
	1. The Skills Pledge
	The Skills Pledge is a voluntary, public commitment made by an organisation to invest in the skills of its workforce. It's a promise that the employer will work to realise the potential of all their employees by developing their basic skills and working towards relevant, valuable qualifications.
	The amount of monies spent by the Learning and Skills Council on the public promotion of the Skills Pledge through advertising, Public Relations and online marketing, including associated production costs, since 2007 totals: £592,454 (excluding VAT)
	2. The Skills Campaign - 'Our Future. It's in our hands
	The Skills campaign was designed as a three year campaign to positively change attitudes for skills, where young people, adults and employers demand skills and qualifications because they recognise the social and economic benefits they bring for themselves and their businesses.
	The amount of monies spent by The Learning and Skills Council on the public promotion of the 'Our future. It's in our hands' campaign through advertising, Public Relations and online marketing including associated production costs, since 2007 is: £14.843m (excluding VAT).

Social Services

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the terms equivalent level of support and no cash losers used by her Department are regarded as synonymous for the purposes the proposals in the Government's Social Care Green Paper.

Jonathan R Shaw: As we said in the Green Paper, if we do reform disability benefits for older people, anyone receiving an affected benefit at the time of reform would continue to receive an equivalent level of support and protection. We have confirmed that this means they would not experience a cash loss as a result of any such reforms. This is consistent with our Green Paper position.

Unemployment

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department is taking to reduce the level of unemployment.

Jim Knight: We are taking decisive steps to reduce the level of unemployment. As part of the Government's commitment to support people into work, £5 billion has been made available since November 2008 to offer extra support to jobseekers to help them find work at all stages of their claim.
	The Department has quadrupled the available funding for the Rapid Response Service, which provides advice and support to customers facing redundancy. Also, we launched an enhanced offer to all jobseekers at day one of their claim which includes targeted group sessions in jobsearch techniques, access to local employment partnership vacancies and help with the costs of getting back to work through the Adviser Discretionary Fund.
	At the six month point in a claim, all jobseekers now have access to a substantial package of extra support including recruitment subsidies, work-focussed training places, volunteering opportunities and support to become self-employed.
	If an individual remains on benefits after 12 months they will be referred to the provider-led flexible new deal programme (currently being delivered in half of the country) and will receive tailored, responsive support to help them get into work. In areas where the flexible new deal is yet to be introduced, customers will access more intensive back to work support through the original new deal programmes.
	The Government have also targeted significant new resource on young people in recognition of the particular challenges young people face during a recession. On 29 July, the Government launched a campaign called Backing Young Britain, calling on businesses, charities and government bodies to create more opportunities for young people, such as internships, work experience placements, links to mentors and apprenticeships. Almost 12,000 graduate internships have already become available and thousands more opportunities will follow early in 2010. Over 360 organisations are supporting the campaign, with numbers growing all the time.
	Furthermore, on 15 December 2009, we announced in the White Paper Building Britain's Recovery: Achieving Full Employment that from January 2010, we will introduce a stronger Young Person's Guarantee, so that all 18 to 24-year-olds who have been claiming jobseeker's allowance for six months will be guaranteed a job, work placement or work-related skills training. In addition, we will offer all young people access to a named personal adviser at the start of their claim and build in more time with an adviser throughout their claim.
	As part of that guarantee, the Future Jobs Fund will create 170,000 jobs: 120,000 jobs for young people, and the remaining 50,000 jobs for people of all ages in unemployment hotspots throughout the country. These are real paid jobs-this is job creation, not an employment programme. The first five bidding rounds are already creating up to 98,000 jobs and the first jobs started in October 2009.
	Further measures to tackle unemployment were also announced in the White Paper. These include:
	from early 2010, access to the self-employment credit will be available from 13 weeks of unemployment;
	for customers aged 50 and over, we will provide new specialist back to work support by using external providers to address their specific needs; widen access to work trials and ensure that those with significant barriers to employment get early access to the six month offer;
	an enhancement of the better off in work credit, so that it will ensure that long- term benefit recipients will be at least £40 a week better off in work. Implementation of the new credit will begin in October 2010; and
	a commitment to implement from October 2011 an improved earnings disregard for lone parents with children aged less than seven-a new tapered disregard will be tested in the progression to work pathfinders.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  whether any  (a) documents and  (b) other items of information in electronic format sought from his Department by the Iraq Inquiry have not been disclosed owing to the Government's obligations to foreign governments or international bodies; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many  (a) documents and  (b) other types of information held in electronic format at each level of security classification the Iraq Inquiry has requested from his Department; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  -how many and what proportion of the  (a) documents and  (b) other items of information held in electronic format at each level of security classification requested by the Iraq Inquiry have been provided to it by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 14 December 2009,  Official Report, columns 840-41W, by the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office (Angela E. Smith), who has answered on behalf of all Departments.

Special Educational Needs: Expenditure

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the total cost to his Department was of educating children with special education needs in residential special schools in each local authority in England in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Diana Johnson: holding answer 6 January 2010
	The requested information is not collected centrally by the Department. However, during the 2009-10 financial year local authorities in England budgeted net expenditure of over £5.2 billion for the provision of education for children with special educational needs. It is not possible to identify how much of this £5.2 billion was for the total cost of educating children with special educational needs in residential special schools as the data is not collected in that way.

Affordable Housing: Tamworth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has allocated for affordable housing in Tamworth constituency in the next three years.

John Healey: The Department does not itself directly take steps to match demand for social rented housing in local authorities. We encourage authorities to assess the housing needs of their area as part of their strategic housing role and then work in partnership with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) with developers (using planning policies e.g. section 106 agreements) and local registered social landlords (RSLs) to deliver the required number of homes through our National Affordable Housing Programme (NAHP).
	During the period 2008-11 this is expected to deliver a total of 123 affordable homes with over 70 of these homes being for social rent. The total investment will be over £3.8 million in Tamworth borough council.
	As part of the Government's £1.5 billion housing pledge we increased investment in NAHP, alongside extensions to the Kickstart programme to unlock stalled sites and local authority new build. In round two of Kickstart, which developers were able to bid for, one scheme has been short-listed within Tamworth, this will now be subject to due diligence. No applications were received from Tamworth borough council for the local authority new build programme.

Financial Transactions

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of financial transactions made in the UK were made by  (a) debit card,  (b) credit card,  (c) online transactions other than bank transfer,  (d) bank transfer,  (e) cash payment,  (f) cheque and  (g) another form of payment in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The number of financial transactions made through different forms of payments is provided in the following table using data provided by the Payments Council. Data for 2009 is not yet available.
	
		
			  Number of payments 
			  (millions) 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Debit card 3,690 4,084 4,512 4,939 5,384 
			 Credit card 1,949 1,924 1,929 1,954 1,986 
			 Online transactions 45.0 74.2 115.3 158.5 173.1 
			 Bank transfer 4,819 5,364 5,605 5,804 6,011 
			 Cash 24,667 23,968 23,069 22,408 22,569 
			 Cheque 2,088 1,931 1,778 1,600 1,403 
			 Other 277 276 271 305 303 
			 Total 37,535 37,621 37,281 37,170 37,830 
		
	
	The following table, using the data provided by the Payments Council, shows the proportion of financial transactions made by the various forms of payment.
	
		
			  Percentage of payments made by:  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Debit card 9 8 10.9 12.1 13.3 14.2 
			 Credit card 5.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.2 
			 Online transactions 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 
			 Bank transfer 12.8 14.3 15.0 15.6 15.9 
			 Cash 65.7 63.7 61.9 60.3 59.7 
			 Cheque 5.6 5.1 4.8 4.3 3.7 
			 Other 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 
			  Notes: 1. Percentages are expressed in terms of the number of transactions made. 2. Bank transfers include Direct Debits, Bacs Direct Credits, Standing Orders, CHAPS and one-off payments made through the Faster Payments Service. 3. Online transactions include PayPal and other internet payment methods. Bank transfers and online payments made by credit card and debit card are excluded.

Secure Training Centres: Training

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of young offenders released from Medway Secure Training Centre have subsequently entered  (a) full or part-time education,  (b) full or part-time employment and  (c) full or part-time training in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: Data on the percentage of young offenders who were released from specific secure training centres and who returned to education, training and employment is not collected centrally.
	An indicator measuring the proportion of children and young people supervised by Youth Offending Teams who are in suitable full-time education, training or employment (ETE) by the end of their sentence now forms part of the local authority National Indicator Set. The indicator counts only children and young people in full-time, not part-time ETE, and only those who go into full-time ETE by the end of their sentence, not those who do so after the sentence closes. It counts both those completing sentences served entirely in the community and those completing the YOT-supervised community element that forms part of custodial sentences. During 2006-07, the baseline year for this indicator, performance was at 67.4 per cent. During 2007-08, this increased by 2.4 percentage points to 69.8 per cent. and during 2008-09 this increased by a further 2.4 percentage points to 72.2 per cent.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many  (a) documents and  (b) other items of information held in electronic format at each security classification have been submitted to the Iraq Inquiry by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office (Angela E. Smith) on 14 December 2009,  Official Report, columns 840-41W.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  whether any  (a) documents and  (b) other items of information in electronic format sought from his Department by the Iraq Inquiry have not been disclosed owing to the Government's obligations to foreign governments or international bodies; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of the  (a) documents and  (b) other items of information held in electronic format at each level of security classification requested by the Iraq Inquiry have been provided to it by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office (Angela E. Smith) on 14 December 2009,  Official Report, columns 840-41W.